Virgin Mobile ending its postpaid service

As part of Sprint's acquisition of Virgin Mobile, the carrier will cease providing postpaid service by May 25 of this year. While current Virgin Mobile postpaid subscribers won't be automatically transferred to Sprint, the company is giving a whole bunch of incentives for people to switch over. They include a $50 credit toward a Sprint postpaid handset with a new two-year agreement and an additional $150 off handsets as part of Sprint's new customer offer. Plus, Sprint will waive all activation fees.

Virgin Mobile began its outreach effort to existing postpaid customers as early as March 1, letting them know their options, which include transferring their service over to Sprint, as mentioned above, or moving over to the prepaid model. If customers do nothing between now and May 25, their service will be cut off. If customers want to keep their phone numbers, they need to act between now and May 25.

Virgin Mobile spokeswoman Corinne Nosal told us this will not impact the company's prepaid plans. In fact, the carrier will work closely with Sprint's Boost Mobile to revamp its prepaid offerings later this year.

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Nicole Lee is a senior associate editor for CNET, covering cell phones, Bluetooth headsets, and all things mobile. She's also a fan of comic books, video games, and of course, shiny gadgets.
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